Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Heucheraxc3x97hybrida cultivar Shenandoah Mountain.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Heuchera plant, botanically known as Heucheraxc3x97hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Shenandoah Mountainxe2x80x99.
The new Heuchera is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Scottdale, Pa. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Heuchera cultivars having good plant vigor, dense and uniform plant habit, and showy and attractive flower and leaf coloration.
The new Heuchera was discovered by the Inventor in a controlled environment in Scottdale, Pa., from seedling progeny from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in May, 1999, of the Heucheraxc3x97hybrida cultivar Silver Scrolls, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,066, as the female, or seed, parent with an unidentified selection of Heuchera alba, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Heuchera was selected by the Inventor in July, 2001. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable flower and foliage coloration.
Asexual reproduction of the new Heuchera by cuttings in a controlled environment in Scottdale, Pa., since October, 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Heuchera are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Shenandoah Mountain has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Shenandoah Mountainxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Shenandoah Mountainxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar of Heuchera: 
1. Full, densely foliated and uniformly mounded plant habit.
2. Relatively large and vigorous plant habit.
3. Bronze and silver-colored foliage.
4. Numerous showy white-colored flowers arranged on erect panicles.
5. Excellent garden performance.
Plants of the new Heuchera can be compared to plants of the female parent, the cultivar Silver Scrolls. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Scottdale, Pa., plants of the new Heuchera differed from plants of the cultivar Silver Scrolls in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Heuchera were large and had larger leaves than plants of the cultivar Silver Scrolls.
2. Plants of the new Heuchera and the cultivar Silver Scrolls differed in leaf and flower coloration.
Plants of the new Heuchera can be compared to plants of the male parent selection. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Scottdale, Pa., plants of the new Heuchera differed from plants of the male parent selection in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Heuchera were larger with longer peduncles than plants of the male parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Heuchera and the male parent selection differed in foliage shape and coloration.
3. Plants of the new Heuchera had smaller flowers than plants of the male parent selection.
Plants of the new Heuchera can be compared to plants of the cultivar Regina, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Scottdale, Pa., plants of the new Heuchera differed from plants of the cultivar Regina in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Heuchera were larger than plants of the cultivar Regina.
2. Plants of the new Heuchera had smaller leaves than plants of the cultivar Regina.
3. Plants of the new Heuchera and the cultivar Regina differed in leaf and flower coloration.
4. Plants of the new Heuchera had tighter and less spreading inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Regina.
Plants of the new Heuchera can also be compared to plants of the cultivar Silver Lode, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,339. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Scottdale, Pa., plants of the new Heuchera differed from plants of the cultivar Silver Lode in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Heuchera and the cultivar Silver Lode differed in leaf coloration.
2. Plants of the new Heuchera had shorter inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Silver Lode.
3. Plants of the new Heuchera had larger flowers than plants of the cultivar Silver Lode.